This story begins as a small For Sale ad in a nationally known railroad publication in November of 1974. "For sale: complete nationally known miniature railroad.... Ruggedly built for hard use and long life.... Excellent for research and development....." Long life indeed, this Cadillac of large scale model railroads. Built on a dairy farm in Roseland, NJ on wooded acres, the Becker family created the "Centerville & Southwestern", a mammoth in realism and appearance, and functional in hard usage. Tourists thrilled to the sounds of clickety-clack and the sights of long passenger carrying trains amidst a world of trestles, trees, stations, signals and a rock ballasted mainline. Originally constructed in 1938, the train ran in a southwest direction into the town of Roseland, originally known as Centerville, hence its name.
In September 1972, the trains made their last runs as the farm had been sold.
